Ponworld
“Uh, uh oh.”
I froze for a second at the sheer numbers, then hit pause as the invaders started charging.
The invaders were orcs from a nearby faction.
Green-skinned, ugly mugs—one of the planet's native races in the lore.
And these orcs were charging with pistols, rifles, all sorts of guns in their hands.
“Why the hell do they have guns? No, wait.”
I get the numbers, sure. But every single one packing heat?
I knew that, but I didn't expect guns right off the bat.
Last time they just had axes.
“What do we do now?”
I paused and racked my brain fast.
How the hell do I fend these off?
“Nah, even Seongwon can't...”
Of course, we had Seongwon with a rifle.
But that's one gun versus at least ten over there.
One shot from us means ten flying back.
“Alright, let's try.”
The odds sucked, but quitting wasn't an option.
First, I rallied Nguyen and Seongwon.
Luckily, Nguyen had walls up enough that we only needed to defend one side.
“...Combat invalid.”
Wayo has the combat-invalid trait, so no fighting for her.
“Still, she needs to stick nearby, right?”
Wayo’s a beast at medicine, at least.
So she grabbed meds and hung back safely.
Seongwon and Nguyen took positions side-by-side with the rifle.
“Traps better do their job...”
“No way. Wayo worked her ass off on research—when would we get that on a new planet?”
“Anyway, we'll hold here.”
I repositioned traps before they arrived.
They'd swarm the warehouse, so I carpeted that area.
Plan was to have Seongwon and Nguyen kite 'em into stepping on 'em.
“Guys, chill out...”
I snapped at the panicky chat and eyed the incoming orcs.
Orcs in proper clothes, guns at the ready.
Good thing—no fancy armor. Traps would shred 'em.
“If it goes south, abandon base and bail.”
“Gong-su-rae-gong-su-geo.”
Lose it all? Start over. Born empty-handed, leave empty-handed.
Humans start with nothing anyway—why fear loss?
“But nah, won't happen.”
Why? Cuz...
“Ora!”
We'll win.
“Argh, aaagh.”
The settlement was scorched and walls smashed to bits.
We barely repelled them, but Seongwon lay bleeding out in the rubble.
Orcs were tough.
Traps worked, Seongwon kited like mad, but life ain't easy.
Right before they fled, one orc's shotgun nailed Seongwon's leg.
Leg: Torn
His calf was ripped clean off.
“Oh, Seongwon...”
I covered my mouth at the gruesome sight.
The kid's crippled now.
His only asset was his healthy body, and poof—gone.
“Banning Seongwari...”
“Prosthetics exist?”
While Wayo stanched Seongwon's bleeding, chat dropped some good news.
Leg gone, thought he'd be stuck processing at a desk forever.
But prosthetics?
“Oh...”
Horrific for him, but maybe a silver lining.
Seongwon loved robots since he was a kid.
He'd dig becoming mecha-Seongwon.
“Nguyen? Oh.”
Right, he fought too.
Forgot he tanked early and went down.
“He’s fine. Built like a tank.”
After stabilizing Seongwon, Wayo rushed to bandage Nguyen late.
“Spit on it, good as new.”
Wayo’s slow on research but a healing god.
She was wrapping Nguyen up quick.
“Didn’t see Wayo put out all the fires?”
Wayo pulled big moves too.
While Seongwon kited, she swiftly doused the invaders' fires.
“Rebuild? Hmm...”
I surveyed the near-total ruins.
Seongwon sat hollow-eyed, leg bandaged.
Wayo hauled unconscious Nguyen to bed.
“Restart?”
...How long to fix this?
“Haa.”
Sighing at the thought of rebuilding half-destroyed everything.
In the end.
The ruined settlement got rebuilt flawlessly.
“Wow, nothing left to do now.”
Original plan mostly complete, tons of new members joined.
Suzuki Ichiro... Muhammad Ali... Bob Marley, etc.
Naming led to a multicultural vibe, but it ran smooth as hell.
Hard to believe for a first run.
Looking back, total beginner's luck.
“Right? Even I think it's pretty.”
Lots of highlights, but the settlement's look topped 'em.
Big outer wall in the map center.
Neat split between living quarters and workspaces inside.
Plus stable farms and fields now.
“You watching, Saint Virgin?”
Top contributor to this view? Seongwon, obviously.
Sacrificed his leg to save the base, then busted ass rebuilding.
Oh, Seongwon's fine, btw.
Mecha-Seongwon with one robo-leg and both arms upgraded, guarding the base.
“Brought back a bear.”
Now hauling two bears, one per shoulder—not the one-grunt struggle from before.
“Romance, huh...”
Seongwon's issue? Still single.
Nguyen's got three wives and four kids already.
Probably the leg-loss hit his looks.
Sad. Couldn't get a date in past life, now in-game too.
Though past life was kinda self-inflicted.
I was the gamer even with free time.
Rejected all the no-lifers' daughters they tried setting me up with.
Married to games back then, really.
“Wayo’s fine solo, why?”
Wayo’s hopeless in love too, btw.
Her weirdo-genius trait tanks relations with everyone.
Even some enemies, so separate bedroom next to her lab.
“Yeah? Can't run without Wayo now.”
She's the GOAT researcher now.
Not metaphor—literal top-tier planet skills.
Anyway. Lately streams ended rough.
This felt like true healing.
Dead Seongwon would approve too.
Wait, he's alive and approving.
“Alright then.”
Base stable, time late—time to...
“Sun’s up.”
I glanced out the window below.
Early morning dawn, salarymen shuffling to work early.
“Y'all not heading to work?”
“Aha...”
“Me? Afternoon shift today.”
Morning free, late PM meeting.
Meetings piling up lately.
Makes sense given the timing.
“Streaming now, duh? Oh, and...”
Time to announce?
Not the vibe for this chill morning, but...
“Ahem, about a week off next month.”
Sadly, a week hiatus next month.
Nothing complicated...
Fashion shows after so long.
Brand contract means main gig time.